"Chelsea intends to leave when her contract expires," Azoff told the celebrity newspaper then. "She hired me to figure out her life after E! We have at least seven suitors and many ideas."

Handler has been pulling in about $9 million a year, even though her average audience of 572,000 per night is down substantially from her 839,000 viewers in 2010, according to The Reporter. But Azoff points out that "Chelsea Lately's" viewership was 67 percent higher than E! lead-in shows, something that helped her establish a consistent track record as the only female late-night host.

"We are very proud of 'Chelsea Lately's' long-running success and the unique space that the series carved out in late night television," E! Network president Suzanne Kolb said in the NBC Universal statement. "Chelsea brought a distinct voice to late night with her acerbic wit and fearless commentary, and we look forward to providing fans with a memorable send-off that lives up to that tradition. Most of all, we are grateful to the 'Chelsea Lately' team for making this show so special for seven years."